Sigh...Another baseball strike? (1 Viewer)

[Mark Kalzer]

Link Removed
WORK, STOPPAGE? Who do these players think they are? It seems like the union has barely begun to negotiate about anything in particular, and are already planning their strike just to make sure they get all their demands. This is just so ridiculous. They act like baseball's a friggen job.
Baseball just continues to sink down the drain. Attendence is at it's worst levels here in Toronto. It's sad really. All the sports stores on the way to Skydome have completely closed up leaving this great hallway from Union station to Skydome bare and quiet. Yet, I have no real inclination to attend games. The Blue Jays are just so disconnected from me now, (Of course, the endless Leafs playoff games isn't helping!) financially, and emotionally. It's just so sickening to see the Yankees always buying the best players, always winning. And it's a disgrace to the "sport" to hear GMs talking about "making the team profitable". What ever happened to the game?
It's seemed like for the last bunch of years, Bud Selig no longer sees 30 somethin teams. There's just the Yankees, and the 29 teams for the Yankee's to beat, and now the players union is threatening to strike again...Argh! Does anyone care about we the fans?

 

[Phil L]

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They act like baseball's a friggen job.

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It is.

I don't think there will be a strike, everybody knows baseball still hasn't recovered from the last one. Also, with the self correction the free agent marketplace made last off-season (Bonds, Boone, Gonzalez, etc. not getting Manny Ramirez/Jason Giambi type money) the owners will be less inclined to push for a salary cap which is the one thing the players would strike for.

 

[brentl]

Lets put it this way;

If they strike again the league is in big trouble. Lots of fans didn't come back from the last one .... me included.

Mind you the way Toronto is playing this year there is no reason to.

Brent

 

[Aaron Schmitt]

And in speaking of strikes and the like, the owners aren't exactly spending their time trying to bargain for a new agreement. The local sports radio station here in Seattle has been reporting today that Major League Baseball has doubled it's lobbying efforts and money spent in Washington DC, more than likely in an effort to get congress to go along with contraction. It's not like it's the players fault or the owners, it's both their faults, and the fans get screwed. Baseball is a great game, but those who run/play it are far from great.
Edit: here's the link to espn.com's article about mlb's lobbying spending: http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2002/0515/1382924.html
Aaron

 

[Jack Briggs]

Look, I still haven't recovered from the friggin' 1981 players' strike.

As for the Yanks: Look, way back in the 1940s people were screaming "Break up the Yankees." Winning is a tradition with the pinstripers. I mean, more than a quarter of all World Series titles. That's just a fact of life.

 

[Mark Kalzer]

That last post just confirms that what I said was true...The Yankees are all that's important in baseball. All the rest of the teams are just teams for the Yankees to beat.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

Another strike? Holy what-the-hell!? What, a couple million a year for playing baseball isn't enough? What if doctors were to go on strike since they save lives and don't get payed near what baseball players do? Gimme a break! :rolleyes

 

[Carl Miller]

I'm so bored with baseball, I wouldn't care if the entire league contracted and disappeared. Used to love it, now I look at their salaries and how much it costs to take the family to a game and I take a pass on it completely.

As for the Yankees, I'd agree it's a problem. I read something not long ago where the author suggested MLB needs to establish a salary floor, and a salary ceiling...Meaning that no team can spend less or more than a certain amount on salary each year. This way, in order to own a team, ownership would have to be competetive with salaries and if they refused to be, or couldn't be, they'd be forced to sell the team.

The author had no ideas on how to make that work, or even if it could work. But it doesn't sound like a bad idea.

Unless you're a Yankee fan, of course.

 

[Travis Olson]

I wish I could remember when it was a game. Those times have long passed and will probably never return.

 

[John Tillman]

Well, the Long Island area has had a strike in progress since the start of the season. The Yankees got tired of MSG making big bucks off them and started their own sports network called YES.

Cablevision (owns MSG) doesn't want to pass the cost on to non-yankee fans and does not carry the network. Public network games are practically non-existent so 3+ million viewers are sitting this season out.

Fans are burned and the season is toast.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Actually, I hope there is a strike. It may cause enough fans to finally give up the sport and result in a major restructuring to return a competitive balance to the league.
I have refused to attend or watch a MLB game since the last strike, so I certainly would not miss the game. Besides, we've been without a major league team in Detroit for many years now.

 

[Brian Perry]

The problems with baseball are almost too numerous to list. Here are just a few:
Player salaries, thanks to arbitration and idiotic owners, are out of control. Alex Rodriguez makes $25 million per year, the equivalent of $10 per each ticket sold at Arlington ballpark.
Competitive imbalance. Teams in the top quartile of payroll have won 206 out of the last 211 playoff games. While I would love to see Montreal make the playoffs this year, it ain't gonna happen.
No real commissioner. It is an undeniable fact that Bud Selig is nothing more than a mouthpiece for the owners.
Guaranteed contracts. As I've said before, fans are getting increasingly disgusted by players who don't perform once they sign multi-year deals. For every Sammy Sosa who lives up to (or exceeds) his contract, there are five Jose Limas or Todd Hundleys who should be cut. I honestly believe this is a huge credibility issue with baseball right now. Teams are playing players solely based on the contracts, and little consideration is made to putting the best players on the field.
Lack of game integrity. Colorado is now humidifying baseballs to lower the offensive output, with full blessing from MLB. So while everyone knows the balls have been juiced over the past several years, now we're going the other way?
Having said all that, and as sickening as my Cubbies are this year, there's nothing better than turning on the radio and listening to a baseball game on a nice summer drive.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Bring another strike on! Last time was total bliss, no pre-emptions of my shows for Emergency Baseball Games. The rest of them can strike too, for a veryvery long time and they'll have my full support

 

[Jassen M. West]

Just when the Red Sox have a chance to take it, I know its still early but that record so far is impressive. I think Bud Selig saw that and said "Oh no the Yanks aren't doing good this year what can we do to make this year void"
oh well
---jay
:rolleyes

 

[Tony_Faville]

Used to love baseball.....but the day I learned A-Rod was going to make $25million a year my stomach turned and I haven't watched or been to a single game since.

It would take me a little over 400 years to make what he makes in one year...... There is just something incredibly wrong with that.

 

[Jack Briggs]

None of this would be happening if Bud Selig were alive today.

 

[DarrinH]

In the words of Chick McGee from the Bob and Tom show...

MAN I DON'T CARE!!!!

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

I hope the NBA strikes too.

 

[LarryDavenport]

The Mariners and the Red Sox are hot this year so of course there will be a strike. Whatever the outcome it will have no effect on the Yankees. Steinbrenner will find some loophole to keep snatching up all the big free agents.

 

[Malcolm R]

They still play baseball? How quaint.